Category Archives: Short Stories

Thanks to Harry Cockburn of the Independent Online for the Headline.

So apparently in order to boost her entitlement to Royal lineage , Elizabeth the First, had a portrait of Anne Boleyn( her mother who was executed by her father King Henry V111) painted with a strong resemblance or indeed based on her own appearance.

At the time of her reign, there were many threats to her right to the Monarchy, so it was natural to use any method to publicise that she was indeed the rightful heir to the English Throne.

It seems odd to me that she would want to be associated with a woman who Henry V111, said was such a wicked and wanton woman. In fact it’s amazing that Elizabeth 1 turned out to be such an effective Queen who ruled for 45 years despite being made illegitimate when her parents marriage was annulled. Henry having a change of mind when Elizabeth was ten years old and restored her to the line of succession.

A lot of water was still to pass under the bridge, but I’d like to think that the portrait was also produced as a way for Elizabeth to honour her mother, who having died when she was barely two , she would hardly have known what she looked like.

Let’s face it Elizabeth never married or had children of her own, perhaps her mother’s story made her fiercely independent and skeptical about the fate of Tudor women and maybe the one thing she could cling onto was the love of her mother.

It was probably a man’s world.

Thanks to Charles Pring from The Argus for the above Headline

I can’t imagine how frightened the little puffin ( the clown of the sea) must have been being washed up in the wrath of Storm Goretti.

It’s fantastic that we have people who volunteer to do wildlife rescues and that the little bird was rescued and rehabilitated and sent on it’s way back to wherever it was going.

They live at sea for most of their lives and only return for nesting, so poor little mite obviously got waylaid.

Glad it was rescued and well done to everyone involved.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

Thanks to Charles Pring ,reporter The Argus Online for the Headline

Boy and Girl Racers beware , you are not allowed to gather and cause a nuisance to other road users.

This incident that required police intervention happened in Sussex but in truth it could have happened anywhere. Apparently they initially gathered in Worthing (obviously a den of iniquity) and drove out to “sleepy retirement by the sea” Hove, presumably to find an open fish and chip shop and do some storm watching if the see was rough.

Apparently however, the Police were asked by locals to issue a dispersal order and not allow more than 35 cars to gather at one time ( about car park size) and to have the dispersal order over the whole of the weekend.

It’s Monday now , excitement over.

Thanks to Annabelle Martin Gloucestershire, BBC Online News for the Headline

Prinknash Abbey in Gloucestershire was sold to developers in 2008 by the Benedictine Monks who lived there, due to the costs associated with running the building becoming prohibitive, they moved to another building nearby called St Peter’s Grange where they continue their monastic life making incense and practicing their religious beliefs with their ever decreasing numbers.

The Abbey could now be transformed into eight homes and 20 apartments under a planning application submitted to Stroud District Council. The proposals have been backed by the Abbey Trustees, whereas previous proposals have been turned down.

We visited Prinknash in 2011 the Monks were no longer living at the Abbey and we didn’t have a dog. There is Deer Park in the grounds which is operated privately and was closed for sometime, but has now reopened as a facility for people to again walk in the area and see the animals that are kept there for a fee.

It would be sad to see the buildings deteriorate and it would be nice for the area to be developed tastefully and for people to live there again. I hope they can maintain the beauty of the area and make it accessible for those who can also appreciate it’s beauty.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏